Back from my hiatus

Where have I been, I hear you ask... well, I have been in hospital having a small surgery but it has taken a lot out of me and I'm really tired most of the time (not to mention high from the fabulous painkillers!) I'll be off work for another week and a half so hopefully I'll get lots of recuperation and knitting done!

Anyway, back to the knitting.

May I insanely proudly present:


Pattern: Tangled Yoke Cardigan, IK Fall 07
Yarn: Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool 8.5 skeins
Needles: Mostly 3.75mm circs and dpns

I am so happy with the finished product! It doesn't completely fit me, bit I still think it looks great left open over a nice top. The buttons match really well too I think. And, it only took me 6 goes at the cable to get it right! ha, a mere trifle. Yeah right, they nearly killed me! But it was all my own fault, the biggest one being forgetting the 4 stitches either end in stockinette. But, doesn't it look great???

Next onto my hospital knitting.
Belle Époque socks from 2-at-a-time socks. My second attempt at 2 at a time. And my second failure. I put this one down to me getting so confused I couldn't see the woods for the trees. I'm fairly sure had I stuck at it for a few more rounds that I would have got it, but I just lost my temper with it, and I didn't need the hassle when sitting in my hospital bed, so I gave up and went one at a time again.
The more observant of you may have noticed that this is the same yarn I was using for my Pomatomus Socks. Yep, they bit the dust. I just wasn't feeling the pattern love. Maybe with a different yarn at another time, but not with Lornas Laces, well not for me anyway.

Look, I can do intarsia!!!! I am so multi talented (ha). I cast on for these Argyle Socks last Tuesday at SnB and I think they're going great! I know I have made mistakes in the pattern, but I've kept on going as they really are just a learning experience for me. Still, they look gpod and I'm really enjoying them! Apart from the knots in all of the yarns dangling down! Since this photo today I've finished the colour chart and am on the heel. It took me about an hour to weave in all the ends!

My husband bought me Simply Knitting magazine, May issue to read while I was in hospital. I saw the pattern for this, and cast on as soon as I got home. It only took me one day!

Pattern: Tidy Twist from Simply Knitting May 2008

Yarn: Craftspun Yarn Donegal tweed, half a skein of blue and red.

Needles: the pattern calls for 6.5mm but I used 5.5mm

I have enough yarn left over to make another one with the main shade red and the pockets blue. I think I'll make it for my parents, they're always losing the remotes!

So, even though I haven't been blogging, I have been busy knitting.... whether it's any good is another matter altogether; drugs do strange things to you...

2 at a time cheats and other things...

So this week I have an FO to show, albeit a cheat:

Pattern: Sugar Maple Socks from 2-at-a-time Socks
Yarn: Lana Grossa Meilenweit Cotton 100
Needles: 2.5mm circs

This was meant to be done 2 at a time, but I failed miserably and just did them one at a time.
On a good note, as per my previous post, I have obtained a ball winder so I will try again and am sure I will prevail!

I have cast on for another pair of socks in the meantime...

Pomatomus Socks by Cookie A from Knitty.

I have been dying to make these socks so here I go. I feel like socks are all I have been making recently, but they are perfect commutev (car) knitting, so I laways have some on the go.

The tangled yoke saga continues. I got to round 7 of the cable chart and all was going swimmingly, but I omitted 2 stitches from each repeat up to the centre, so I have to rip back to the beginning of the row and start again. Boo. I have ripped back so many times that the yarn is nearly beginning to felt! It's in time-out now until the weekend when I will have time and patience to devote to it.

I have also cast on for my first colourwork project! I am truly a fearless knitter lol. It may all go belly up, but at least I'm trying! It's a pattern one of the girls in my SnB gave me for a pair of argyle socks.

These are the colours I'm thinking of using:


The pink will be the main colour and I'll figure the others out as I go.

I've got as far as the beginning of the colour chart, and am terrified to go any further! I just don't know what to do next!
I downloaded the ebook, Stranded Color Knitting by Nanette Blanchard so I'll try and follow that and see how I go.

Exciting or frustrating times ahead! Let's hope it's more of the former than the latter...

I also picked up the Spring/Summer edition of Vogue Knitting yesterday. I am mad keen to make the gorgeous blue lacy top that's near the back! It's just gorgeous! I'm amazed that they have a garment I'd actually wear; usually they are very "conceptual" and that it's patterened in a size that will fit me! yay!

Happy knitting!

Noro Sock and Other Goodies

Squee! I had a great purchasing weekend to make up for my disappointing knitting week last week.


On Saturday morning, I ventured off to Craftspun Yarns in search of a ball winder and swift. I had heard rumours that such existed there, the only Irish place I could find that had any.
After about an hours drive I eventually found the place. (It's in a very rural location) But, to my joy, they had a ball winder and swift! And for just €35 each! That's great value IMO.

Have a look:




















I also couldn't help myself and snapped up two skeins of Donegal tweed for just €6 each. It's 100% handspun Irish wool, so I will try and felt something with these. Maybe a small bag??









Then yesterday I could resist no longer and hit my not so LYS and gave in to the Noro Sock yarn. I don't know why I was so mad for this, I've never used Noro yarn before, but I just had to have some! So, while I was there I bought 2. Onr for me and one for my daughter. It's good value as sock yarn goes, €14.50 for 420m. That's not bad!





My Tangled Yoke is not going well. I ripped back (sob!), re-did the set-up row, all was grand. Did Row 1 of the chart, knitting 4 sts before the chart began, using stitich markers to separate each pattern repeat, moving the markers as I went along, knitting 4 sts at the end and i still had 6 stitches left over AARGH! So, I will try once more. I will not let this beat me! But, equally I will never knit this again, there's just too many stitches to keep track of. Still, it's all part of the learning experience.

My niece was christened on Saturday, and much to my joy, they used my Trees Breeze afghan as the christening blanket! I was so proud!

I'm almost finished Sugar Maple sock No 1, and will try and rush through No 2 so i can properly try two at a time now I have my super dooper ball winder and swift!

P.S. I hope these pictures show up ok. I'm blogging from work (I know, me bad) and they block Flickr here (grrr) so I can't see the pics, just clear squares where they should be.

Tangled up in cables

I'm totally lost on my Tangled Yoke. I successfully joined the sleeves and am on row 7 of the cable chart. I'm going to have to rip it back to the start - thank God for lifelines! - as I've got it all wrong. I'm not so hot on reading charts so that doesn't help. Am I supposed to knit 4 at the beginning and end of each row before I start the chart? How many times am I supposed to repeat each section? I'm making the second largest size. On the set up row, it says to repeat the sections 12 times. Does that apply to all further rows? It's the only thing I can think of.

*sigh* I'm so lost and to be honest, a bit pissed off with it. It was going so well until now! I had read of others having difficulty, so I suppose I should have been prepared, but I don't like getting things wrong. Any helpers out there?

In other better news, an FO!

Pattern: Everlasting Bagstopper from Knitty Summer 07

Yarn: Lily Sugar n Cream large balls, about 1 1/2

Needles: 3.5mm, 4mm, 6.5mm

Mods: I used the I cord handles from the Elisa Tote Bag

I loved this pattern! It was so quick and easy to knit. The yarn was fab too, I'll definitely buy it again when I hit the states in October!

My progress on the Swallowtail Shawl hasn't been as good as I expected.

I reckon it's a chart reading issue again. I think I'll just have to give up and start all over again.

I also cast on for a new pair of socks.

Sugar Maple from 2-at-a-time socks by Melissa Morgan-Oakes. I'm using a ball of Lana Grossa that I have for a while. I tried valiantly to master the 2 at a time technique, but to no avail. All I ended up with was a tangled mess of yarn. I really need a ball winder (and swift!) to be able to split the balls in two to do this technique. Fortunately, I've found an Irish supplier, Craftspun Yarns, who say they'll sell me both for €38 each which sounds good! I'm going down on Saturday to have a look. In the meantime, I've decided to continue these socks on one circ, one at a time.

So, overall a bit of a frustrating week knitting wise!

From worst to best!

What a turnaround... from my worst FO (poor David Bowie) to my best (I think!)

I present Trees Breeze:



Pattern: Trees Breeze from Cover Up with Nicky Epstein
Yarn: Zettl Sportimo 4 ply acrylic
Needles: 5mm


I am so proud of this afghan. I think it turned out brilliantly. I didn't have enough yarn so I omitted one round of repeats of the tulips each time on it, but I don't think it takes anything away from it. This is a christening gift for my sister in laws baby girl. I really hope she likes it! I think it would make a perfect christening blanket. I am amazed I created something so lovely.

I particularly love the tulip leaf border, it's so pretty! Although it took almost as long as the afghan to make! I did try and crochet the border to the blanket, but failed miserably. I just find it hard to get the hang of it. I must get one of the ladies at my SnB to show me and then go straight home and practice! I ended up sewing them together, but I think I did a good job, there's no gaps and no lumpy seam! yay me!



In other news, the Tangled Yoke is coming along.

I'm almost (9 rounds away) finished the second sleeve and then I've decided to knit a few more rows onto the body of the cardi as I think it's a bit short for me.


I've also cast on a new project:



Swallowtail Shawl from IK Fall 06 by Evelyn Clark. I have seen so many beautiful examples of this on Ravelry that I had to try it. I'm going to try using beads instead of the nupps for a bit of sparkle as I'm going to a world premiere of a new musical here in Dublin in May and thought it would be nice to have something glamorous to wear.



Other good news, we're not moving! yay! I managed to persuade hubby to stay for another while and pay off our mortgage here first. It was greatly helped by me managing to get car parking near the new building. Thank God, that was the biggest worry. So, all's well that ends well.



Happy Easter everybody! I leave you with a picture of my gorgeous daughter who is 7 tomorrow (how time flies) modelling the Easter Bonnet she made for the Easter Parade at school.
Happy Birthday, light of my life. xx

My worst FO yet...

I finished my David Bowie doll today after hours of really bad sewing and he looks a bit like this:

Hahahaha The poor thing should be put out of his misery!

He looks nothing like David as I substituted virtually everything to use what I had in my stash. And I discovered that my sewing sucks the big one. It's just appalling! Definitely to be viewed from a distance - a long distance.

Still, it was intended as a laugh, and he certainly provided that. He is currently standing on top of the cooker hood looking like he is seriously considering jumping off!

Here's my progress this week on my Trees Breeze blanket. I don't think I'm going to have enough yarn, so I've decided to omit one repeat of the tulips on each section. I'm not liking the way they look anyway, so it's no biggie. I should definitely have this done in time, it's powering along!

My Tangled Yoke has suffered a bit of neglect in the name of the blanket. I brought my sleeve along to SnB last week and one of the ladies had a great idea, crochet a row along where the joins are and that should solve the ugly ladders! Brilliant, I said. How do you crochet? So, one of the other ladies lent me a crochet hook and showed me what to do. That was last Tuesday, and I only got around to trying it today, so needless to say I've completely forgotten. I have tried a crochet of sorts and it seems ok. I reckon after blocking it will be fine. Aren't fellow knitters and crocheters great people?

Busy Bee

Lots to report this week, it seems!

My hubby very kindly picked me up this last week:

A photo box for taking my knitting pictures! It's a great gadget, you shine a light through the sides and you get lovely crisp pictures. I'm really pleased with it! And it was only €15! Bargain!

At my SnB last week, Lumia brought a bag I had ordered from her recently:

Isn't it cute? I got the name of our knitting group (Knit n Natter) printed on it. She makes all sorts of t-shirts, bags etc. Check out her shop: US Store EU Store

Now, down to my knitting progress.

An FO!

John's Rambo Socks

Pattern: Slipped Stitch Rib Socks from Sensational Knitted Socks

Yarn: Crystal Palace Yarn Panda Cotton, about 2 and a half skeins.

Needles: 2.75mm dpns

I loved this pattern, it was a really easy knit for the car. And, hubby loves them! He's wearing them today after I gave them to him last night for his birthday present. He had a great birthday, we went to the local Indian restaurant, Shimla, for a yummy dinner with his sister, who also celebrated her birthday yesterday. They're not twins, there's 8 years between them, but it's really weird having two leap year babies in the family! Apparently the world "record" is 3, so they're very rare!

Next, the progress on my Tangled Yoke:

I've finished the first sleeve and am on to the second. I'm not very happy with them however.

Have a look below, I've got awful ladders all the way up them

Can you see it? I have pulled and pulled the yarn really tight when changing needles, but to no avail. All I can think of is that the larger dpns (3.75mm) are what is causing it. Fingers crossed they will disappear when I wash it. Otherwise, I'll be very unhappy!

Next, a new project!

I bought Cover Up with Nicky Epstein a few weeks ago as I totally fell in love with the stunning afghans in it. The photography is just wonderful.

So, I have cast on for this:

Trees Breeze. Also known as the Tree of Life Afghan. This pattern is also for sale on the Lion Brand website.

The yarn called for is Lion Brand Wool Ease in Fisherman, but I can't readily get that over here, although I did buy one skein of it when I was in Florida last October. So, I am substituting plain old white baby yarn. I'm making this as a christening present for my niece. Her christening is on April 5 and my husband is godfather, so I thought this would be a nice gift. I hope it turns out ok, the main part of the pattern is fine, it's the edging I'm worried about. It's knit separately and then sewn on. Yuk, I hate sewing. I'm thinking of maybe picking up and knitting it on instead. We'll see when (if) I get that far!

Until next time, I must get practising with my photo box to improve my pictures!